May 10, 2021
Jail Mail: Prisons and Parliament – Budget Session 2021
Dear friends,
Greetings from CHRI! Hope you all are keeping well in these difficult times.
This issue of the Jail Mail documents the responses to questions asked by the Parliamentarians in the Budget Session 2021 on various issues relating to prisons, persons held in detention, judicial processes and other related topics.
The Budget Session 2021 began on 29th January 2021 and concluded two weeks ahead of the schedule on 25th March 2021 after both the houses adjourned sine die. The session was held in two parts with a recess in between from 16th February till 7th March.
In this session of the Parliament, the Government of India responded to a total of 59 questions on issues of prison population, prison overcrowding, COVID in prisons and courts, virtual courts, fast track courts, sentencing, custodial violence among others. Twenty four of these questions were answered in Lok Sabha while the rest 35 were answered in the Rajya Sabha.
The attached note contains a summary of the information received through responses to the questions asked on prisons and prisoners. Links to the questions are stated below as well.
What can you do?
You can suggest questions that you would like to be asked in the next session of Parliament. You can inform your representative about the issues and challenges that are important to you. You can also ask questions on these issues through your MP or other MPs, who may in turn ask the relevant ministry. The admissibility of the question in the Parliament is governed by the Rules and Procedures and Conduct of Business in the Lok Sabha (Rule 41) and Rajya Sabha (Rule 47). You could also search for previous questions asked in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha to help you in draft questions to the relevant ministries. Your questions can be sent to MPs through these links: Lok Sabha Member details and Rajya Sabha Member details To understand the areas of work that your MP or other MPs engage in, you can go through the MP Track page of PRS Legislative Research. You can also send questions to Parliament using the platform here or by sending your questions to Maadhyam at [email protected]
Please feel free to write to us at [email protected] with your comments and suggestions.
With best regards,
Madhurima Dhanuka Programme Head, Prison Reforms Program Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative 3rd floor, 55A, Siddhartha Chambers I, Kalu Sarai, New Delhi-110016 Tel: +91-11-4318 0200, 9331127001, 9748927001
*This jail mail has been prepared by Sabika Abbas, Prison Reforms, Access to Justice Programme, CHRI with assistance from our interns Swati Anand and Rubayya Tasneem. 1
JAIL MAIL: PRISONS AND PARLIAMENT- BUDGET SESSION 2021
We have categorised the questions as per themes and summarised them in a crisp analysis, below. All these questions have also been presented below, in the form of a table for better understanding.
1. Prisons Resources
A total of five questions were raised in both houses of the Parliament on issues relating to prison infrastructure including installation of CCTV cameras, prison capacity and prison population, modernisation of prisons, social security schemes for prisoners and features of the Model Prison Manual. All of these questions were directed towards the Ministry of Home affairs (MHA) and were answered by Shri G. Kishan Reddy, Minister of State, MHA.
Details on prison infrastructure were asked in two questions. The questions focused on video conferencing (VC) facility in jails, installation of CCTV cameras, number of prison libraries across the country, proportion between the number of toilets to the prison population of all the jails. It was also asked if “whether the Government would construct more toilets to facilitate human dignity, if the proportion is imbalanced?”. Besides, information was also sought on the number of central jails in the country, total number of prisoners in the central jails; total prison capacity in India, actual number of inmates lodged in all the prisons and total number of Under-trial inmates.
Responding to these questions, the MoS stated that as per the latest data compiled by the National Crime Records Bureau in their annual report ‘Prison Statistics India’ (PSI) 2019:
808 jails are equipped with VC facilities 22,456 CCTVs installed across various prisons in India (state wise breakup attached in annexure) There are 144 Central prisons in the country and these prisons housed 2,20,021 prisoners as on 31/12/2019. Although the total capacity of all prisons in the country was 4,03,739 but there was a total of 4,78,600 lodged in them instead. Out of these 3,30,487 were under-trails.
The Ministry stated that the information regarding prison libraries and toilets in prison is not maintained centrally.
On the question of extending modernisation of prisons scheme, the Ministry stated that: “Modernisation of prisons is a continuous process, which the Government has been supporting from time to time to address various needs for improvement including the need to reduce overcrowding of prisons through guidance in the form of Model Prison Manual, advisories, guidelines and financial assistance.”
Another related question was on the salient features of the Model Prison Manual. The Ministry responded by listing down 15 salient features while also specifying that the Model Prison Manual has been prepared with a view to bring about uniformity in basic principles governing prisons and is intended to be used as a significant tool for prison administration. The same was circulated to all prisons on 30th May 2016. It advised for the adoption of the same across respective jurisdictions by making suitable adaptations as per local conditions.
A question was asked on whether the Government has formulated any social security scheme(s) applicable to prisoners in general, women prisoners their children outside prisons, in particular. Without stating any specific social security schemes for prisoners, the Ministry responded by saying that although prisons is a state subject, the MHA has time and again issued advisories to all States and UTs on providing vocational and skill development training to prisoners including the categories mentioned in the question. It further stated that, “States have been advised that on release from prisons, individual cases of released prisoners may be followed up by the concerned Probation/Welfare/Rehabilitation Officers for a period ranging from one year to five years according to the requirement of each case and the status of their rehabilitation and reintegration into the society may be closely monitored at appropriate level”.
2. Overcrowding in prisons
Two questions were asked on issues of overcrowding in Indian prisons. These are particularly important in view of the current surge in COVID cases in prisons. Both these questions were directed to the Ministry of Home Affairs. One of the question also asked whether the Government has taken any steps, in the
2 backdrop of the Coronavirus pandemic, to reduce overcrowding in prisons so as to facilitate social- distancing.
The Ministry responded by listing down steps that have been taken in order to reduce prison overcrowding. These include:
Use of Section 436A, Code of Criminal Procedure, which provides for release of an under-trial prisoner on bail on undergoing detention for a period extending up to one-half of the maximum period of imprisonment specified for an offence under any law. Setting up of E-prisons portal for quick and easy access to cases that are to be considered by the Under-trial Review Committees (UTRC). Free legal assistance through the legal service institutions. National Legal Services Authority’s (NALSA) SOP for the functioning of the UTRCs. The Model Prison Manual, 2016. Various advisories by the Ministry of Home Affairs to reduce overcrowding in prisons.
On prison population and capacity and deaths in prisons, the Ministry attached a list of State-wise breakup from the PSI 2019.
Additional questions were asked regarding the constitution of Board of Visitors (BOVs) to track prison facilities, number of staff vacancies in the medical and correction unit of prison staff and state-wise mortality rate in prisons from 2015-2020. On the appointment of BOVs, the Ministry responded by stating that the data on BOVs is not maintained centrally by the NCRB. Data from PSI (2016-2019) on the appointment of medical and correctional staff was shared in the answer.
3. Vulnerable category of prisoners
Question on women inmates and presence of ‘third gender in prisons’ have been clubbed under the vulnerable category section in this jail mail. A total of five questions were raised, four of which were on women prisoners. Four of these questions were raised in Rajya Sabha to the MHA and one question was raised in Lok Sabha, directed towards the Ministry of Women and Child Development. One of these question was on the report published by the Ministry titled, ‘Women Prisoners in India’ and its recommendations. The Ministry responded with the basic recommendations of the report like – “improving mental health of inmates, improved access to legal aid, after-care programme for reintegration and taking care of children of women inmates, special provision for pregnant women and better accommodation for new mothers etc”.
Other questions were on the number of women exclusive prisons in the country and their capacities, steps taken by Government to increase the number of such prisons, total number of women prisoners in the country, classification of crimes committed by women inmates, number of women prisoners with children inside. The MHA responded to these questions by providing the data from PSI 2019. The details include:
Of the total 4,78.600 prisoners in the country, 19,913 are women. 31 women jails in the country (state wise breakup of these jails was provided in a table). These prisons have a capacity of 6,511 women inmates but some 3,652 women are lodged in these prisons. Places where there are no exclusive jails for women, they are lodged in special barracks/ female enclosures separate from male inmates. Various jails in States and UTs of the country have a total capacity for 27,703 women inmates, against which 19,913 women inmates are lodged. 1,543 women prisoners having kids are lodged in various jails of the country as on 31 December 2019.
Other questions were on the steps taken to improve safety and security of women in prisons, cases of sexual exploitation of women inside prisons and if any action that might have been taken in this regard. To these questions the Minister of State, MHA remarked that prisons were subject to the laws of State Governments as it comes under List II of the Seventh Schedule. However, the MHA has issued advisories to States and drafted the Model Prison Manual to look after these issues.
A part of one of the questions was on the benefits of NALSA schemes in providing legal aid to women prisoners. NALSA responded with the data of 1084 functional legal aid clinics across prisons,
3 7,316 remand advocates for providing early access to legal aid in courts, and a total of 88,135 persons in custody (both male and female) have been provided free legal aid between 1st April 2020 to 31st December 2020. NALSA further stated that a pan India campaign was implemented by them for women inmates and their children inside. As a part of this campaign some women were also selected to be trained as Para Legal Volunteers.
The specific question on persons categorized under the third gender category was on the number of arrests of such persons in the last three years (2018-19, 2019-20, 2020-21), their numbers in prisons and how many are undertrials, details of their accommodation inside prisons. The Ministry did not have data on the arrest of transgender persons. With respect to their numbers in prisons and details of their accommodation inside, the Ministry did not provide any statistical data. Instead, it stated that “Administration and management of prisons and inmates is the responsibility of respective State Governments, who are competent to adopt appropriate measures for providing separate accommodation for transgender inmates as per the need and requirement for the same in individual prisons”. The Ministry has also advised all States and UTs to adhere to Transgender Protection of Rights Act and Rules including undertaking necessary sensitization programmes for police and prison officials.
4. COVID and prisons
Five questions were raised in the Parliament on the issue of COVID and prisons. All these questions were asked in the Rajya Sabha and were addressed to Shri Kishan Reddy, MoS, MHA.
One of the questions was on the total number of prisoners released since 1st April 2020 up until December 2020 from prisons across states and UTs as precautionary measure due to the spread of COVID-19. Part of the question was on the state wise list of total COVID tests conducted in prisons between the same time period and precautionary measures taken by the Government to curb the spread of COVID in prisons. Another question was on the number of prisoners afflicted by COVID, status of isolation facilities for COVID positive prisoners and death of inmates due to COVID.
The Ministry responded to both the questions by submitting that it does not maintain data on the number of releases and the number of COVID tests done on prisoners. Furthermore the Ministry stated that the MHA had issued two advisories to all states and UTs on 12th March 2020 and 2nd May 2020 advising them to follow necessary COVID protocol.
In the backdrop of the pandemic a question was asked on whether any additional funding has been provided to States governments to build additional infrastructure for the pandemic. The Ministry stated that no request was received from the states for additional funding to deal with the pandemic. However, the Central Government, “by way of special onetime dispensation, allowed use of State Disaster Response Fund upto 35% of their allocation for the year 2019-20 and upto 50% for the year 2020-21” to build necessary COVID infrastructure.
Another question was on the specific problems faced by women prisoners, children accompanying them inside and transgender prisoners due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to that, it also asked of the steps taken by the Government to address these problems and sought details on the release of prisoners under these specific categories in the wake of the Pandemic. The Ministry stated the same response that prisons are state subjects and State governments are competent to devise and implement schemes to provide support to prisoners during the current scenario.
Lastly, a question was asked on whether the Government has requested all State Governments to ensure the return of convicts back to jail as the COVID restrictions were relaxed. The Ministry, however, did not provide any information on this specific topic.
5. Indians in foreign prisons
Three questions of similar nature were asked to the Ministry of External Affairs on Indian nationals lodged in foreign prisons and their repatriation process. Shri. V. Muraleedharan from the Ministry answered all three of these questions. The three questions sought details on the number of Indians in foreign jails in general and gulf countries in particular; number of repatriation applications received; number of prisoners exchanged by India with foreign countries through the Repatriation of Prisoners Act; number of countries with which India has bilateral agreements for repatriation; and the average time taken and process followed between ministries and departments in India for the repatriation process to get completed.
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The Ministry gave the following responses:
The number of Indian prisoners in foreign jails as of 20th February 2021 is 7890 which also includes under-trials (country wise list is attached in the answer) The number of Indian prisoners, including undertrials, in jails of Gulf countries is as follows: Bahrain (178), Kuwait (460), Oman (49), Qatar (439), Saudi Arabia (1570), United Arab Emirates (1292), Iraq (0) After the enactment of the Repatriation of Prisoners Act in 2003, 205 applications for repatriation have been received and 73 Indian prisoners have been repatriated from foreign prisons 73 Indian prisoners, have been transferred to their country of nationality under the Repatriation of Prisoners Act, 2003 to serve the remainder of their sentence.
On the question of average time taken and process followed between ministries and departments in India for the repatriation process to get completed, the Ministry shared that, “there is a regular process of inter-Ministerial meetings, consultation and coordination between the Ministries of External Affairs and Home Affairs on the issue of repatriation of Indian nationals in foreign prisons including in the context of bilateral agreements for Transfer of Sentenced Persons (TSP).”
6. SC/ST/OBC/Minorities in prisons
Three questions were asked on the number of prisoners belonging to SC/ST/OBC/Minority backgrounds, proportion of Dalit prisoners (both UT and Convicts) in Indian prisons, reasons for more than 65% of prison population being from these categories. In the answer, Shri Kishan Reddy provided “State and UT wise, gender-wise, caste-wise, religion-wise” statistical data of prison inmates from PSI 2019. The Ministry also provided State-wise data of Under-trials belonging to SC/ST/OBC/Others categories and UTs who have been in prisons for more than 5 years.
There were specific parts to the questions that asked, if there are any existing caste bias in ‘police officials’ which might have led to more arrests of persons belonging to backward classes and steps taken to eradicate such biases and possible reasons behind “putting more people from backward and minority communities in jails”. To this the Ministry stated that “it is the responsibility of State Governments to ensure the application of law in a fair and just manner without any bias or discrimination”. It further stated that, the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act adequately protects SCs and STs from false, malicious or vexatious suit or criminal or other legal proceedings. The answer briefly laid down steps taken by the MHA to protect and safeguard the interests of vulnerable groups, these include issuing advisories, sensitisation training programmes for police personnel by the Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPRD).
Sub sections of these questions focused on enquiring the reasons for about 66% of prisoners in India being illiterate or having studied up to class 10th only and reasons why the Government is not taking any steps to rehabilitate and educate these persons. The Ministry provided State-wise data of inmates “benefitting by education facilities in prisons in the year 2019”.
7. Political prisoners
Four questions were asked in the Rajya Sabha on: state-wise number political prisoners currently in custody, number of Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) cases registered, number of sedition cases registered, number of detentions under UAPA, number of detainees who belong to minority/SC/ST/OBC communities, number of convictions under UAPA and number of political prisoners who have died in custody since March, 2019.
The Ministry of Home Affairs responded to these questions with the following information:
NCRB does not record data on ‘political prisoners’. As per NCRB’s report ‘Crime in India 2019’, total number of persons arrested under the UAPA in 2019 is 1,948. The total number of the persons arrested and the persons convicted in the years from 2016 to 2019 under the UAPA in the country are 5922 and 132 respectively, 5 Breakup of last five years of arrested persons and conviction under UAPA and Sedition law were also provided by the Ministry.
Parts of the questions were also focused on whether the Government has any checks in place to ensure that innocent individuals are not charged under UAPA and whether the Act is being used against minorities and backward sections of the society. The Ministry refuted claims of misuse by stating that there are existing “constitutional, institutional and statutory safeguards” in place to prevent the misuse of law.
8. Children in institutions
Two questions were asked on setting up of ‘Child Rights Legal Cells’ in all states and improving the conditions of child care institutions. These questions were directed towards Ministry of Law and Justice and Ministry of Home Affairs, respectively.
The Ministry of Law and Justice responded by stating that NALSA and the SLSAs have been constituted under the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987 to provide free legal services to the weaker sections of the society including children and that there is no proposal to set up Child Rights Legal Cells in all the States.
Responding to the question on improving the conditions of child care institution, the MHA briefly mentioned the existing provisions under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act 2015, to improve the infrastructure of child care institutions. It further mentioned that the Ministry of Women and Child Development has collaborated with National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS) “to establish a National Initiative & Integrated Resource for Child Protection, Mental Health, and Psycho-social Care named SAMVAD (Support Advocacy & Mental Health Intervention for Children In Vulnerable Circumstances And Distress), with the objective to strengthen and implement mandate of child protection and welfare issues across the country”.
9. COVID and Courts
A question on the effect of COVID on court hearing was raised to the Ministry of Law and Justice. It was asked whether the courts are hearing limited matters owing to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Ministry said that after the announcement of a nation-wide lockdown on 25th March, 2020, directions were issued from time to time by the respective High Courts to the Subordinate Courts under their administrative jurisdiction for hearing of urgent civil and criminal matters in virtual or physical mode depending on local conditions. Since the COVID lockdown began, the District courts heard 45,73,159 cases while the High Court heard 20,60,318 cases (totalling to 66.33 lakh) till 31st December, 2020 using video conferencing only. The Supreme Court had 52,353 hearings since the lockdown period up to 31.01.2021.
10. Refugees
When asked about the maintenance of data on refugees, stateless persons, and asylum seekers due to religious persecution, the MHA stated that, considering India is not a signatory to the 1951 UN Convention relating to refugees and the 1967 Protocol, they are governed by several statutes, such as the Foreigners Act, the Passport (Entry into India) Act, etc. Considering that such foreign nationals enter into the country without valid travel documents, the minister remarked that such data is not maintained centrally.
11. NRC in Assam
The Ministry of Home Affairs was asked two questions on the issue of National Register of Citizens (NRC). One was about the status of NRC in Assam, delay in the issuance of rejection slips which prevents excluded people from taking legal recourse, number of persons excluded, number of genuine Indian citizens who got excluded due to lack of documents etc.
Answering this question, the MHA stated that: On the direction of the Hon’ble Supreme Court, the hard copies of the supplementary list of inclusions and online family-wise list of exclusions were published on 31st August, 2019
6 The SC’s order dated 8th May 2018 allowed the state coordinator to develop a system to provide reasons for rejection, and this had been delayed due to the outbreak of Covid-19 as well as the floods. A total number of 19,06,657 persons are not found eligible for inclusion in the NRC list published on 31st August, 2019. Each applicant is mandatorily required to furnish a documentary proof of residence of self or the ancestors (legacy person) in Assam or any other part of India on or before the cut-off date, through one of the stipulated legacy documents. Furthermore, in light of the circumstances, the period of appeal had been increased to 120 days, from the previous 60. 200 Appellate Foreigners Tribunals have also been instituted.
The second question was on the construction of detention centres under the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and NRC and the number of people detained in such centres and the number of deaths that have been recorded in the same. The answer provided to this question states that although there is no provision of detention centres under the CAA and NRC, detention centres are in place in compliance of the Supreme Court’s order [dated 28th February, 2012 in W.P. (Crl.) no. 310 of 2005]. It directed that “foreign nationals who had completed their sentence shall be released from jail immediately and be kept in an appropriate place with restricted movement pending their deportation/repatriation”.
12. Virtual courts
Ten questions were raised in both houses of the Parliament on the functioning of virtual courts or e-courts. The questions ranged from number of e-courts at the district level and High Court level; status of the E-Courts Mission Project; adoption of E-filing; digitisation of criminal records; implementation status of Integrated Criminal Justice System (ICJS) and lastly the number of advocated who attended the virtual hearing of the Supreme Court via VC. Some of these questions were addressed to the Ministry of Home Affairs and some were directed towards the Ministry of Law and Justice.
The National Mission for Justice Delivery and Legal Reforms had been established in 2011 to increase access by reducing delays and enhancing accountability. This has included in its ambit, among others, improving infrastructure for judicial officers of subordinate courts, implementing the e-Courts Mission Mode Project throughout the country for Information and Communication Technology.
On the E-courts Mission Mode Project, the Ministry of Law and Justice stated that during 2020, total 1,980 courts were added. List of State and District wise courts that were computerised in 2020 was also attached as an annexure with the answer. Phase II of the project commenced from 2015 till the project is completed. The Supreme Court of India emerged as a global leader with more than 59,309 virtual hearings (as on 15th February 2021). The High Courts (27,58,560 hearings) and Subordinate Courts (54,46,876 hearings) have conducted more than 82.05 lakh virtual hearings till 28th February 2021 Ministry of Home Affairs stated that a total of 30.81 crore digitized criminal records are available in Crime and Criminal Tracking Network & Systems The e-Committee of the Supreme Court has designed and rolled out in the year 2018, an e-filing system Version 1.0 and created a portal (efiling.ecourts.gov.in) for this purpose. The portal enables electronic filing of legal papers. ICJS integrates data maintained by Police, Courts, Prosecution, Forensic Sciences Laboratories and Prisons to streamline work flow, allow a comprehensive search and query for timely and scientific investigation. ICJS is available for use by law enforcement agencies/officers. It has been made operational in all States/ UTs. As per information provided by the Supreme Court of India, the approximate number of Advocates who attended the virtual hearings of the Supreme Court through video conferencing from 23rd March 2020 to 31st December, 2020 is 3,38,144.
13. Pendency of court cases
Some 10 questions were asked on the pending cases in Indian courts. These were detailed questions on the number of cases pending in the Supreme court, High Courts and the lower judiciary; steps taken by the Government for the early disposal of cases; vacancy of judges and steps taken to increase their strength in courts; impact of COVID-19 on the pendency of court cases.
7 Along with providing detailed answers, including statistical data, to all these questions, the Ministry of Law of Justice stated that after the nation-wide lockdown on March 25th, courts had resorted to hearing urgent matters either through video conferencing or physical depending on the jurisdiction. A new software Patch and Court user Manual has also been developed for Covid 19 management. The Supreme Court conducted 52,353 hearings since the lockdown period up to 31 January, 2021.
14. National Human Rights Commission (NHRC)
A question was asked on the number of state-wise and category wise cases registered with the NHRC between 2015 till 2021 and the action taken by the Government for their speedy disposal. A detailed list of the number of cases was provided by NHRC which included state-wise and category wise number of cases registered with the NHRC. In 2020-2021 (up to 20.02.2021), some 68,466 cases were registered with the Commission.
15. Custodial violence
Three questions were directed towards the Ministry of Home Affairs regarding custodial violence. As per the data maintained by the NHRC, some 112 deaths occurred in police custody in 2019- 2020. This records a slight decrease from the previous year which had 136 deaths. Madhya Pradesh had the highest count at 14 deaths.
The Nation Human Right Commission (NHRC) had issued an order dated 4th September, 2020 for a mandatory judicial magistrate inquiry into every case of death in police custody or other custody, authorized by the court, in view of the provisions of Section 176(1A) of Code of Criminal Procedure (Cr.P.C).
According to MoS Shri Kishan Reddy, the data maintained by the NHRC has shown no visible trends of increase in the incidents of custodial violence. He also added that Central Government supplements the efforts of the State Governments either through financial assistance or through training programs in order to equip the police personnel to sensitize public servants.
16. Sentencing
A specific question was asked on whether the Ministry of Law and Justice has formulated a comprehensive policy on sentencing guidelines according to the recommendations made in the Malimath Committee (2003) and Madhav Menon Committee (2008). The response provided stated that: “Pursuant to the recommendations of the Parliamentary Standing Committee (on Home Affairs in its 146th report), Law Commission was tasked to recommend comprehensive amendments to be made in the various criminal laws viz. Indian Penal Code, Code of Criminal Procedure, Indian Evidence Act, etc. The reports of the Malimath Committee and Madhav Menon Committee were also referred to the Law Commission for this purpose”.
17. Legal Aid
A question was raised on whether any measures have been taken to integrate legal expertise with digital technology and whether any digital platform has been introduced for providing legal aid for rural areas.
The response to this question was that the “government has launched the Tele-Law programme since 2017 which has provided an effective and reliable e-interface platform connecting the needy and disadvantaged sections including rural populace seeking legal advice. Tele-Law aims to provide legal advice at the pre-litigation stage to the beneficiary by connecting them with Panel Lawyers via video conferencing and telephone facilities which are available at the Common Service Centers (CSC) at Panchayat level”.
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DETAILS OF THE QUESTIONS
All questions (with the answers) have been hyperlinked in this table. You may also access these questions and their respective responses may also be accessed by putting in the question number on the official websites of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.
Question Topic Question Asked Forum Answered By (Name Sl. Number & By & Designation) No Date
PRISONS RESOURCES
1. 225; 2nd CCTV Cameras in Shri G.M. Lok Shri G. Kishan Reddy
February 2021 Jails Siddeshwar Sabha (MoS, The Ministry of Home Affairs)
2. 3249; 24th Facilities in Shri Rakesh Rajya Shri G. Kishan Reddy
March, 2021 Prisons Sinha Sabha (MoS, The Ministry of Home Affairs)
3. 3257; 24th Model Prison Shri K.C. Rajya Shri G. Kishan Reddy
March 2021 Manual Ramamurthy Sabha (MoS, The Ministry of Home Affairs)
4. 313; 24th Modernisation of Shri Shaktisinh Rajya Shri G. Kishan Reddy
March 2021 Prisons Scheme Gohil Sabha (MoS, The Ministry of Home Affairs)
5. 2495; 9th Social Security Dr. (Prof.) Kirit Lok Shri G. Kishan Reddy March 2021 Schemes to Premjibhai Sabha (MoS, The Ministry of Prisoners Solanki Home Affairs)
OVERCROWDING IN PRISONS
6. 3265; 24th Overcrowding in Prof. Manoj Rajya Shri G. Kishan Reddy
March 2021 Prisons Kumar Jha Sabha (MoS, The Ministry of Home Affairs)
7. 146; 2nd Overcrowding in Shrimati Lok Shri G. Kishan Reddy
February 2021. Prisons Aparajita Sarangi Sabha (MoS, The Ministry of Home Affairs)
VULNERABLE CATEGORY OF PRISONERS
8. 835; 5th Women Prisoners Shri Anurag Lok Shrimati Smriti Zubin
February 2021 in India Sharma Sabha Irani (Minister of Women and Child Development)
9. 1792; 10th Separate Prisons Shri Mahesh Rajya Shri G. Kishan Reddy
March 2021 for Women Poddar Sabha (MoS, The Ministry of Inmates Home Affairs)
10. 2428; 17th Women Prisoners Shri. Rakesh Rajya Shri G. Kishan Reddy
March 2021 Sinha Sabha (MoS, The Ministry of Home Affairs)
11. 309; 24th Safety and Shri K.C. Rajya Shri G. Kishan Reddy
March 2021 Security of Ramamurthy Sabha (MoS, The Ministry of Women in Home Affairs) Prisons
9 12. 3250; 24th Third Gender in Shri Rakesh Rajya Shri G. Kishan Reddy
March 2021 Prisons Sinha Sabha (MoS, The Ministry of Home Affairs)
COVID AND PRISONS
13. 2447; 17th Return of Shri Rajya Shri G. Kishan Reddy
March 2021 Convicts to jails Kanakamedala Sabha (MoS, The Ministry of Ravindra Kumar Home Affairs
14. 197; 3rd Precautionary Dr. Amar Patnaik Rajya Shri G. Kishan Reddy
February 2021 measures in Sabha (MoS, The Ministry of prisons during Home Affairs COVID-19
15. 198; 3rd Prisoners Dr. Amar Patnaik Rajya Shri G. Kishan Reddy
February 2021 released to curb Sabha (MoS, The Ministry of the spread of Home Affairs COVID-19
16. 209; 3rd Under-trial Shri Vaiko Rajya Shri G. Kishan Reddy
February 2021 prisoners afflicted Sabha (MoS, The Ministry of with COVID Home Affairs positive
17. 1816; 10th Facilities to Shri Binoy Rajya Shri G. Kishan Reddy
March, 2021 women in prisons Viswam Sabha (MoS, The Ministry of and detention Home Affairs) centers
INDIANS IN FOREIGN PRISONS
18. 4708; 24th Indians in Shrimati Lok Shri V. Muraleedharan
March 2021 Foreign Jails Meenakashi Sabha (The Ministry of External Lekhi Affairs)
19. 3435; 25th Indians Jailed in Shri Syed Zafar Rajya Shri V. Muraleedharan
March 2021 Gulf Countries Islam Sabha (The Ministry of External Affairs)
20. 409; 4th Repatriation of Prof. Manoj Rajya Shri V. Muraleedharan
February 2021 Indians Lodged Kumar Jha Sabha (The Ministry of External in Foreign Affairs) Prisons.
SC/ST/OBC/MINORITIES IN PRISONS
21. 1014; 10th Dalits And Shri Syed Nasir Rajya Shri G. Kishan Reddy
February 2021 Muslims In Hussain: Sabha (MoS, The Ministry of Indian Jails Home Affairs)
22. 2426; 9th Undertrials Shri Subbarayan Lok Shri G. Kishan Reddy
March 2021 Prisoners K. Sabha (MoS, The Ministry of Home Affairs)
23. 3229; 24th Prison Inmates Dr. Amar Patnaik Rajya Shri G. Kishan Reddy March 2021 From Sabha (MoS, The Ministry of SC/ST/OBC Home Affairs) Categories
10 POLITICAL PRISONERS
24. 105; 10th Political Shri Kapil Sibal Rajya Shri G. Kishan Reddy
February 2021 Prisoners in The Sabha (MoS, The Ministry of Country Home Affairs)
25. 3236; 24th People Arrested Shri Tiruchi Siva Rajya Shri G. Kishan Reddy
March 2021 Under UAPA Sabha (MoS, The Ministry of Home Affairs)
26. 1013; 10th People Detained Shri Syed Nasir Rajya Shri G. Kishan Reddy
February 2021 Under UAPA Hussain Sabha (MoS, The Ministry of Home Affairs)
27. 1830; 10th People charged Shri Abdul Rajya Shri G. Kishan Reddy
March, 2021 with UAPA and Wahab Sabha (MoS, The Ministry of Sedition Home Affairs)
CHILDREN IN INSTITUTIONS
28. 3515; Reforming Child Shri Mahesh Rajya 25th March Care Institutions Poddar Sabha Shrimati Smriti Zubin 2021 Irani (Minister of Women and Child Development)
29. 3499; 25th Setting Up of Dr. Ashok Bajpai Rajya
March 2021 Child Rights Legal Sabha Shrimati Smriti Zubin Cells Irani (Minister of Women and Child Development)
COVID-19 AND COURTS
30. 1211, 11th Impact of Covid- Shri Derek O’ Rajya
February, 2021 19 Pandemic on Brien Sabha Shri Ravi Shankar Courts Prasad. (Minister of Law and Justice, Communications and Electronics & Information Technology)
REFUGEES
31. 1318, 9th Data on Refugees Shri Kalyan Shri G. Kishan Reddy
February 2021 and Stateless Banerjee Lok (MoS, The Ministry of Persons Shri Saptagiri Sabha Home Affairs) Sankar Ulaka
NRC IN ASSAM
32. 1264,10th NRC in Assam Shri Abdul Lok Shri G. Kishan Reddy
February 2021 Khaleque Sabha (MoS, The Ministry of Shri Gaurav Home Affairs) Gogoi
33. 2433, 17th Deaths at Shri Derek Rajya Shri Nityananad Rai
March 2021 Detention O’Brien Sabha (MoS, The Ministry of Centers Home Affairs)
11 VIRTUAL COURTS
34. Virtual Courts Lok 381, 3rd Shri Manish Sabha Shri Ravi Shankar
Feburary 2021 Tewari Prasad. (Minister of Law and Justice, Communications and Electronics & Information Technology)
35. 1464, 10th Web Portal for Shri Bholanath Shri Ravi Shankar February, 2021 Cases Pending in (B.P Saroj) Lok Prasad. (Minister of Law Various Courts Sabha and Justice, Shri Upendra Communications and Singh Rawat Electronics & Information Technology)
36. 1598, 10th E-courts Shri Brijendra Lok
February 2021 Singh Sabha Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad. (Minister of Law and Justice, Communications and Electronics & Information Technology)
37. 3539, 17th E-Courts Shri G.M. Lok
March 2021 Siddheshwar Sabha Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad. (Minister of Law and Justice, Communications and Electronics & Information Technology)
38. 2607, 10th E-Courts Dr. Sanjeev Lok
March 2021 Kumar Singari Sabha Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad. (Minister of Law and Justice, Communications and Electronics & Information Technology)
39. 1793, 10th Digitisation of Shri K.J. Rajya
March 2021 Criminal Records Alphonso Sabha Shri G. Kishan Reddy (MoS, The Ministry of Home Affairs)
40. 4675, 24th E-Court Project Shri P.V. Midhun Lok
March 2021 Reddy Sabha Shri Ravi Shankar Shri Magunta Prasad. (Minister of Law Sreenivasulu and Justice, Reddy Communications and Electronics & Information Technology)
12 41. 3535, 17th E-filing in courts Shri B.B. Patil Lok March 2021 Sabha Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad. (Minister of Law and Justice, Communications and Electronics & Information Technology)
42. 1794, 10th Features of ICJS Shri Manoj Rajya Shri G. Kishan Reddy
March 2021 Kumar Jha Sabha (MoS, The Ministry of Home Affairs)
43. 3454, 25th Virtual Hearings Shri Ram Shakal Rajya March 2021 Through Video Sabha Shri Ravi Shankar Conferencing Prasad. (Minister of Law and Justice, Communications and Electronics & Information Technology)
PENDENCY OF COURT CASES
44. 1594,10th Pending Court Shri T. R. Baalu Lok
February 2021 Cases Sabha Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad. (Minister of Law and Justice, Communications and Electronics & Information Technology)
45. 1515,10th
February 2021 Shri Ravi Shankar Pending Court Shri Sanjay Bhatia Lok Prasad. (Minister of Law Cases Sabha and Justice, Communications and Electronics & Information Technology)
46. 2698, 10th Pending court Shri Chunni Lal
March 2021 cases Sahu Shri Ravi Shankar Lok Prasad. (Minister of Law Sabha and Justice, Communications and Electronics & Information Technology)
47. 245, 3rd Pending court Dr. T. Sumathy
February 2021 cases (a) Thamizhachi Shri Ravi Shankar Thangapandian Lok Prasad. (Minister of Law Sabha and Justice, Communications and Electronics & Information Technology)
13 48. 339, 3rd Pending court Shri K.
February 2021 cases Muraleedharan Shri Ravi Shankar Shri Harish Lok Prasad. (Minister of Law Diwedi Sabha and Justice, Shri Karti P. Communications and Chidambaram Electronics & Information Technology)
49. 1209, 11th Pending cases in Dr. Kirodi Lal Rajya
February, 2021 Supreme Court Meena Sabha Shri Ravi Shankar and High Court Prasad. (Minister of Law and Justice, Communications and Electronics & Information Technology)
50. 2661, 18th Rise in Pending Shri Vijay Pal Rajya
March, 2021 Cases Singh Tomar Sabha Shri Ravi Shankar Shri P. Prasad. (Minister of Law Bhattacharya and Justice, Lt. Gen. (Dr.) D.P. Communications and Vats (Retd.) Electronics & Information Technology)
51. 3458, Pendency of Cases Shri Shamsher Rajya 25th March, Singh Dullo Sabha Shri Ravi Shankar 2021 Prasad. (Minister of Law and Justice, Communications and Electronics & Information Technology)
52. Shri Ravi Shankar 1214, 11th Pending Cases in Shri Neeraj Rajya Prasad. (Minister of Law February 2021 the Country Shekhar Sabha and Justice, Communications and Electronics & Information Technology)
53. 3507, 17th Pending cases in Shri D.M. Kathir Lok
March 2021 Supreme Court Anand Sabha Shri Ravi Shankar Shri Prathap Prasad. (Minister of Law Simha and Justice, Communications and Electronics & Information Technology)
NATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION (NHRC)
54. 3232, 24th Cases Registered Shri Rajmani Rajya Shri G. Kishan Reddy
March 2021 With NHRC Patel Sabha (MoS, The Ministry of Home Affairs)
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CUSTODIAL VIOLENCE
55. 1273, 9th Deaths in Police Prof. Saugata Ray Lok Shri G. Kishan Reddy
February,2021 Custody Sabha (MoS,Ministry of Home Affairs)
56. Shri E.T. Lok Shri G. Kishan Reddy 1296, 9th Custodial Mohammed Sabha (MoS, The Ministry of
February, 2021 Violence Basheer Home Affairs)
57. 1005, 10th Custodial Deaths Shri Vaiko Rajya Shri G. Kishan Reddy
February 2021 Sabha (MoS, The Ministry of Home Affairs)
SENTENCING
58. 2664, 18th National Shri Vivek K. Rajya Shri Ravi Shankar
March, 2021 Sentencing Policy Tankha Sabha Prasad. (Minister of Law and Justice, Communications and Electronics & Information Technology)
LEGAL AID
59. 239, 3rd Digital platform Shri Dipsinh Lok Shri Ravi Shankar
February 2021 for legal aid Shankarsinh Sabha Prasad. (Minister of Law Rathod and Justice, Shri Anil Firojiya Communications and Shri Mohanbhai Electronics & Kalyanji Information Technology) Kundariya
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